Step 1: Materials

Fruit and vegetable carving knife- i show 2 styles here the thin bladed wooden handled knife is actually just a paring knife but it is one that has a thin blade this works pretty well for carving and is easy to find, i found this one at Sur la Table for around $6.

The yellow handled knife has a super thin blade and is the most ideal knife for fruit and vegetable carving. this type of knife is called a thai carving knife. they are sort of hard to find, the company that made this one is called Kom Kom . You can purchase one of these knives from www.chefgarnish.com

U/V cutter- basically it has two ends one is a channel in the shape of a V the other a U. you can find one of these at the same web site as the knife or high end kitchen supply stores may also sell them. And actually i have made my own as well.

Deba knife or chefs knife- you just need a large knife so that you can take slices off of the melon to create a base for the melon to stand up.

<p>Looks great, and the 'ible was simple to follow!</p><p>Question - How long did it take to do this?</p>

<p>I loved this tutorial! thank you so much!</p>

<p>looks great, I love it.</p>

<p>that's amazing!</p>

beautiful carving will try it today, thanks for posting and waiting for the radish tutorial <br>

Sweet instructable! You are so talented.

Wow I SO love this. I'm trying to learn how to carve melons and will try this first!

This is Great thanks for posting Im gonna try this one tomorrow for a fruit basket

I had to change it a bit to match the tools I had at hand but here is my first melon carving. Thanks heaps for the tutorial. <br/><br/><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7371845@N02/3890387494/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/7371845@N02/3890387494/</a><br/><br/>

Wow, your melon looks super amazing for your first ever attempt, I am glad you found the instructable helpful. And keep your eyes open because i plan on posting another fruit carving soon :)

You know what i will make a radish flower instructable for you in the near future thanks for the comment

That is beautiful!! Thanks for sharing. Now, about the radish rose... First you make the cuts, and then you plunge in water. Look on the internet, there must be a diagram. It is way simpler to make than the melon-lol

oh my god that is very cool, you have too much time on your hands... nice.

That is really stunning. I have to try this. Thanks for posting.

it works great on watermelons, honeydew, squash. kiwi and bananas not so much

Will this work on other kind of fruit? Will this work on apples, watermelons, kiwi, bananas or anything like that?

watermelons and apples, i'm guessing, will work.

Awesome job,
Can you make a radish rose? I'd like to see that done like this was.. :)
I knew a Thai chef that could I only remember the trick is to put the radish in some ice water before you start..
Don't ask me the rest..

i like this :)
I saw a papaya carved in bali....it looke really complex. But i guess after 20-30 years of experiece it's really easy

Thats awesome.

this will work on anything firm that will not oxidize, an apple oxidizes very quickly and even if you dip it in something acidulated it only stalls the apple from rotting away.....this technique is good for melons and squash mostly

Beautiful work!

sooooo cooool i have to try this...

feckin' sweet!

it's nice to see some of the cold larder techniques on 'ibles... it's a long time since i did fruit & veg carving... kinda makes me think of picking up a melon just for the sake of getting back those skills, thanks for the reminder

awesome!

Great ible!
Nice clean and focused pics, great descriptions!
I think I might try this one at some point....
Keep up the good work!

very simple with a great turnout. artistic. good i'ble. +1

artista

Wow! (But THAT'LL be the day, when a ripe melon survives around me longer than it takes me to get rid of the seeds and then gorge myself so rapidly that I risk choking to death----ripe honeydew melons ARE worth the risk, though!)<br/>

Hey, that's awesome!
When I make a pineapple, I cut the top off and set it on the plate. Then I stack the cut up bits all around it, with whatever else. Gotta love decorative fruit.
But what's with the "melons make you sick" thing? I've been eating melons forever and I've never gotten sick from them.

yes the reason melons are potentially hazardous foods is that when bacteria is present on the outside of the fruit it is pulled into the flesh when the blade passes through the rind.

you gotta be careful with melons because they are a potentially hazardous food.
Unlike most fruits, melons dont have a lot of acidity to inhibit bacteria growth.
So you got to make sure to scrub them down good. And keep them chilled.
You dont want to give your guests 3 days of the two bucket blues :(

well, you're not REALLY supposed to eat the decorative fruit anyway... just b/c you're not sure who's been handling it, and if they assumed you were gonna eat it or now (or if they washed their hands after using the bathroom...)
it is pretty tho

Wow! That is so cool! And easy too!

you can do this with some squashes too!

Too bad I'm allergic to melons...

you can buy a u/v cutter from www.chefgarnish.com that is where mine is from and once you get the hang of it a melon should take about 10 mins or so

where do you get the u cutting knife. and about how long will it take to do a mellon that size?

very good Instructable with detailed photo's

I like melons.<br/><br/><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.instantrimshot.com">http://www.instantrimshot.com</a><br/>

In the small thumb on the homepage, i thought it was a durian.
That looks awesome, i just can't come up with the time :(

So very awesome. Will do this.

that is so cool!!!!!!!!!! would look great at parties. you're very talented!